myoubi

Three words: wintry PENCIL SHAVINGS.

argh. I was really excited for this blend, but in imp, on skin, and after 30 minutes it stays exactly the same. Away with ye!

I don't find Albedo to be a foody scent at all.. and I don't even get the coconut many people have mentioned, which on me is a good thing

In the Imp: oooh! wham in the nose with that citrus! It's more of a tangerine-y scent to me than lemon or lemongrass -- it's a very energetic citrus with a hint of sweetness.

On Skin: still got lots of citrus, but it is mellowing out a bit.

20 minutes, and thereafter: holy mackerel. this is beautiful. it is this delightful warm, soft, and creamy scent with a hint of citrus overlay. By 'creamy' I don't mean 'like the lab's cream note' which doesn't work with my skin chemistry; I mean a sensation that feels like actual cream feels, smooth and rich without being oppressive or sweet. It's really delightful. I must find another decant. ::

This was frimped to me by a generous and lovely forum member. Thank you!

I am both very happy and very sad about this scent. I'm happy because now I don't have to go on the hunt for more of it. I'm very sad because I don't get all the lovely smelly goodness that everyone else seems to

In the imp: oooh! this smells promising! it smells exactly like the first word, 'glowing'. It's a warm ambery-wood scent with the fizzy sweet lotus layered overtop to give it some gumption. This is lovely!

On skin: ...but wait. What's this? the instant I apply it, the amber and lotus vanish completely and it turns into this sweet-thick-cloying-cream plus TEAKTEAKTEAK combo. Cream rarely works on me, but I loved Miller vs. Cali so I hoped that had turned around... but this scent is literally sickening. I was eating breakfast (grapefruit, omnom) when I applied it and I really had to be careful how I ate so I didn't get a whiff of the stuff.

Ten minutes: No change. okay. this has to be washed off.

20 minutes: the wretched scent won't - go - away. And it has serious throw, too. After washing my hands three times with two different kinds of soap, I finally pulled out a body scrub and spent a few minutes with my hands under the faucet in attempt to scrub it off. My hands smart now, as I'm pretty sure I removed a few layers of skin, but I can barely smell it anymore. I'll wash them again in a minute and hopefully it will finally leave without a trace.

In short: Not for me. it will get passed on to someone who can love it more.

Again, no long review for this one because I just slapped it on and then went about my day. But impressions:

This scent is strange on me. First the oil is light -- I expected it to be dark and viscous like Boomslang [which I should probably get more of...] It doesn't smell like dark chocolate on me. It smells like *chocolate* but it doesn't have that thick dark feeling. After I've worn it for a few hours, it's dried down to... sweet cream. Just sweet cream. Sweet, heavy, slightly plastic-vanilla-y cream.

But here's the weird thing. I thought I really didn't like the drydown but I can't stop huffing my wrists. What is with this scent?!?

I really am not sure what I am going to do with this one. Either way, it's definitely addictive.

Bitter Moon! It is my standard "fizzy" blend, although YMMV -- it makes me think of fizzy carbonated water. It's not very sweet, just fizzy and a little prickly. Also Snow Angel, but you have to really be okay with sweet for that one.

All I get is smoke and brimstone overlaid with bay rum.

someone else will love this much more than I do.

eeeh, I really liked the old labels the new ones are fine, I'm just not excited about them -- and when it comes time to replace my GC bottles I"m definitely going to seek out old-label bottles before I order them from the lab.

I did not expect to like this so much! In fact, I didn't expect to like it at all. But everyone was fussing over it, so I figured what the hell... hundreds of BPALers can't be wrong.

It's warm and autumnal and boozy and comforting -- I get red wine (which NEVER works on me!) and cardamom and clove and a teensy bit of vanilla. It's got good throw -- I only put a little on, and it kept wafting up to my nose, but it's not one of those really assertive scents where everyone around you is thinking "HOOOkay, that sure is some nice perfume that came up and smacked me in the nose!" I won't do a detailed scent review, partially because I forgot to take notes -- all I remember is being wrapped up in this lovely spicy deep warm scent that you could snuggle into like a big red blanket. I don't need more, but I will treasure my decant.

TAKEAWAY: Lovers of Snake Charmer should give this a shot but bear in mind that it's a much more floral blend. Lovers of Faiza should try this because it reminds me of what I /wanted/ Faiza to smell like. People who like Black Lace might give this a try, because even though they are totally different scents there is this weird association. I'm keeping my bottle.

In the Bottle: this reminds me of Snake Charmer, but with citrus, and a little bit lighter. There is something slightly bitter about it too, but not in an unpleasant way.

On Skin: Oil is quite dark in colour -- and in scent. It rapidly morphs from Snake-Charmer-Citrus to something deeper and much less sweet -- guess that is the opoponax coming out to play. I can feel the jasmine in there if I huff, but it isn't ZOMGJASMINE at all... and there is a dark sweetness that, I assume, is the red plum. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a 'sweet' blend on me -- it just has a slight something that cuts through the darker, thick and citrus-jasmine-resins thing going on.

20 Minutes: All of the notes have prettymuch melded together into some sort of strange brew... it is bitter, and a little musky, and very dark without being heavy the way Snake Charmer/Mme Moriarty/Crypt Queen are. Notes are discernible only if I huff my wrists and that's a maybe; from about a foot away, I get a little bit of the tobacco note and more of the red plum comes out, so the throw is actually lovely even though the scent itself is peculiar.

1 Hour: It's mellowed out into a dark, resinous floral blend that nonetheless doesn't have the *heaviness* of Snake Charmer et al. It's dark and mysterious -- doesn't have the Shocking! factor I associate with giallo but that's probably a good thing. It's alternately slightly bitter-jasminey and (the throw) sweetened with black plum. I like it, it's a morpher, I'm keeping it -- but it's definitely not for everyone.

ETA: OH MY GOD. Like does not nearly encompass how I feel about this scent after wearing it for a few days. It is this lovely sultry scent, not too sweet and not too heavy, that is nonetheless dark and murky and mysterious. KEEPING IT FOREVER. ((clutches bottle protectively))

This one really reminds me of a lighter version of Midway. There's not much more I can say -- it didn't morph much on skin, it just stayed smelling like Midway without being as 'gooey' as Midway was. There's some funnel cake and sugar hanging out there, and yes, I think I get the marshmallow note other people mentioned.

If you don't like sweet or foody, avoid this one -- but if you liked Midway or Marshmallow Poof, this is IMO the best of both worlds!

Verdict -- I really like this one. I'd love a full decant (thank you to the lovely forumite who sent me a tester!). However, I've got Midway, which I love, so I am not going to lose my head trying to find more. It is very nice though!

This is DIVINE. It's slightly sweeter, gentler, and less 'frozen' than Cold Moon. less detailed review than usual because I put it on without making detailed notes...

IN THE IMP: slightly-sweet eucalyptus chill.

ON SKIN: mmm cold lovely goodness. the eucalyptus is there but not stomping all over everything, and it just makes me think of frozen flowers -- cold and still but a little bit of floral-sweet.

20 MINUTES: the coldness has mostly worn off, actually! I get whiffs of eucalyptus, but it's now mostly a limpid slightly sweet scent -- floral, I guess, but not WHAM IN YOUR FACE floral which would not be my speed at all. it's a subtle scent and one that hugs close to the skin - I can sniff it in the air from time to time, but mostly I can see this as being a scent that others would only smell if they came up to you and hugged you. It is a bit romantic that way.

VERDICT: Frost Moon is lovely, but definitely not as frosty as I thought she would be. It's not a cold, hard, isolated scent like Ice Queen and it doesn't have the berry note of Skadi. This scent reminds me of both Cold Moon and Havisham -- it's not omgfloral like Havisham, but it has the same kind of light-cold feel, and it has the limpid sweetness of cold moon while not being /as/ sweet or /as/ cold. It's pretty unique among the blends I've smelled! I will definitely cherish my imp; however, I probably won't actively hunt down any more.

ZOMG.

First, the bad news: this one is a fader, and it doesn't have a lot of throw. It doesn't fade into nothing but after a couple of hours I really had to huff my wrist to get a sniff. There are solutions to this, however.*

Then, the good news: oh. my. GOD. this is beautiful. It is exactly the scent I wanted from this perfume. it starts out cold, frozen, fresh green apples. On skin it warms up every so slightly, so that it's a gentle floral overlaid with white snow, pine, and fresh green apples. It's so beautiful, and the perfect snow-pine-fruit scent -- for those who have tried Skadi, it's less COLD than Skadi is, and more mild and fruit-centric without being fruit-y. It's gorgeous. I'm so glad that the lovely FandF hooked me up with a bottle

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*I find putting a bit of oil in your cleavage, especially if you're wearing a sweater or something that doesn't have a low neckline, helps to preserve an area of scent that wafts a bit more than the wrists do. just a thought.

IN IMP: Sweet! But not unpleasantly so -- and not really foody either. Just a pleasant sort of slightly-spicy sweetness.

ON SKIN: Still sweet, but now the cream is coming out to play. Cream and I don't usually get along, so I am a bit worried. Mostly I am getting cream and berries and fig grounded by something spicy. It's pretty nice -- I like it but I'm not head over heels.

5 MINUTES: Berry leather yumm. The berry leather has hints of something more sinuous and dark threading through it, not sure what that is. The cream is still around, keeping things a bit on the sweet side, but it isn't marching forward and demanding everybody's attention.

15 MINUTES: OM NOM NOM leather cognac figgy goodness. also, weirdly -- I can smell the brown paper bag. The fig pops up every so often, but, as in a game of whack-a-mole, is quickly beaten down by the victorious leather note. This is awesome, as leather smells like the Sex on me. However, I would have appreciated a bit more in the berry department. Cream has mostly vaporised, which from my perspective is A-OK.

1 HOUR: [will update when it happens]

I actually... don't hate this scent!

When I saw the notes I was sure it would be heinous on me -- all this white, hard, light stuff at the top of the smelling range, and gods-bless-me-and-save-me gardenia settling over it all. But it's actually not totally heinous. Not something I'd want to own, but for those fans of light, white scents this is a good one. It reminds me of Brides of Dracula, which is the only similar scent I've ever really enjoyed. (that one, alas, has also gone the way of the dodo.)

IN IMP: strangely fruity! It's like a light, sweet-y sort of fruitiness -- one of the notes reminds me of something in Fee. (Don't get all excited, it's not a Fee dupe; there's just a small similarity there)

ON SKIN: beh, gardenia. But the gardenia is nicely smothered by a white, sweet kind of scent -- must be the vanilla musk and the white amber. after a while the musk allies with the gardenia and starts to eat everything. not good.

10 MINUTES: this is getting rounder and prettier, as something deeper down the smell scale but still sweet emerges from beneath the GARDENIAMUSK shield.

LONGER: scent is sweet; to me, vaguely sickitating, but YMMV. light, pale, florally scents aren' tmy thing, but if they turn your crank this is one to look at. If you liked Brides of Dracula, this may be another place to look.

So, not really for me, but pretty for them as like it.

First of all: this is the only scent that my boyfriend has ever reacted to unprompted. He, um, really likes it. so it could smell like cat pee and I would still wear it since it gets that kind of a reaction.

That aside, Mme Moriarty really does smell good.

My bottle is from early 2007, so it's had quite a while to settle in. The Snake Oil comparison is apt -- it really does smell like a warmer, more lush and fruity Snake Oil right out of the bottle. As the two have aged they have gotten closer together IMO -- when I first got Mme Moriarty, I remember there being a lot more red fruit at the top of the scent. The drydown has that wonderful warm, lazy sexiness that Snake Oil has, but it doesn't /smell/ like Snake Oil -- it just has a similar feeling.

If Snake Oil hates you, I would give Mme Moriarty a try -- you get a similar effect. Snake Oil was uncomfortably sharp on me at first (before I aged my bottle) so Mme Moriarty might be a better bet for those who don't want to wait 2+ years. Mme Moriarty is a rounder, warmer, redder version of SO, but the comparisons are apt. Yumm.

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As an aside, I need to stop buying variations of the same scent. Snake Oil, Mme Moriarty and Snake Charmer are definitely in the same scent family. They're different scents, but if you have one or two of them, you may want to give the others a miss, as they smell pretty siilar (at least on me).

IN THE IMP: a soft, sweet, milkiness with a touch of dried herbs overtop

ON SKIN: much more herbaceous. it's mostly grassy-green herbs, I think I smell some sage in there, but they are layered over something -- which is probably the milk, but I can't actually smell it. Just that there is a sweet-ish base note for all this green herby business Nonetheless, it's quite pleasant.

25 MINUTES: mmmmmm... herby milky smoothness. I really like this scent. it's very quiet and undramatic, unlike many of the scents I wear. It's this sort of soft, gently-sweet floaty presence -- the milk has come back, and it's mingling with the herby notes which have receded a bit so it's not just HERBS. It's sweeter than I expected, but not too sweet. I really like this scent. It reminds me of original Milk Moon, but better, because Milk Moon was too sweet on me; here, the herbiness heads off the threat of overwhelming creamy sweetness. Yummm.

I will cherish my decant, and maybe even hunt down a second one. ^.^

Both the boyfriend and I were looking forward to this scent. Sexay black cherry brandy! Sounds like yum! Unfortunately, it wasn't fantastic on me.

IN THE IMP: sharp fake cherry candy. uh-oh...

ON SKIN: at a distance, smells like a face-off between black cherries and maraschino cherries! up close, smells like fake cherry candy -- so if it stays like this, I just won't huff my wrists. I'm starting to get a little more of the booziness out of this, but not as much as I'd like.

20 MINUTES: it's gotten cherry-er and boozy-er, but it still has a bit of the sharpness of the fake-cherry scent I got out of the imp. I'd still like more brandy. It's not as dark a scent as I had anticipated -- probably because of the mysteriously-absent brandy. The cherry has softened a lot as well.

1 HOUR: smells more boozy than initially, but not nearly enough for me. it does smell more like maraschino cherries than black cherries on me, but fruit notes are always hit-or-miss so YMMV. From a distance, it's a pleasant scent, but up close it can be rather sharp. Not bad, but I think I'm swapping this.

I was really hoping to like this one Croquembouche is so yummy!* But I should have known better. After all, it contains caramel.

IN THE IMP: Gack! Sweet and incredibly sharp. Almondy, but there's something else. Hopes diminishing rapidly.

FRESH ON SKIN: same as in the imp, only more so. literally hurts the inside of my nostrils to smell -- it's almost acidic. Where is the pastry from the profiteroles? something to ground this caramel-coated almond thing would be nice.

10 MINUTES LATER: why oh why could I not get rose from this blend like everyone else... it has definitely settled down, mellowed out a bit, but I'm still not convinced. VERY almondy on me, although it's not a pure almond note -- the almondy sweetness is layered on top of something else, something that smells to me like the coating of croquebouche looks.

15 MINUTES LATER: yes, it's mellowed out, but I can't deal. This one has to be washed off. Oh God. I'm getting a bit more of a grounding note at this point, but not the tasty soft pastry-ness that I had hoped for -- it's like that is trying to come out, but is being stomped to death by the RANCID CARAMEL that always happens with scents like this, though I keep trying. Almond provides a high sharpness at the top of the scent that is actively unpleasant. This has to go.

Hopes: totally dashed.

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* This, for example, is what croquembouche looks like. Om nom nom! Read more here.

This smell gooooooood.

It's warm and spicy and rosey all at once. This is not your grandmother's rose. I smell the red rose and clove the most, and then the Indian musk and the pine -- I can't pick out any of the other notes specifically, but it's this gorgeous warm, ever-so-slightly aggressive blend that you can just wrap yourself in. It's beautiful. I love it.

PREFACE: I love clove. I will buy just about anything that has clove in it. If I could bathe in Sweet Clove SN every night, I would do it.

IN THE IMP: Clove and mahogany. This oil is thick.

WET: Warms instantly on my skin. The clove sweetens (although it's not a "sweet clove", it just kind of warms up) and the patchouli rushes forward.

DRYING: Clove and patchouli, with a woodsy sweetness. I can't detect the dark musk at all yet, which is good in my book.

DRY: After about 10 mins, this does what dark musk usually does on me -- goes to powder. :/ I like powdery scents, but I was hoping it wouldn't this time. Nontheless, it's sweet patchouli-clove-powder, which is strange but I like it. the Smiling Spider is a warm, blanket-y scent, and even though it doesn't do precisely what I wanted on skin, at some future point I may require a 5mL.

VERDICT: 4/5

I'm not good at picking out most of these notes, so bear with me.

IN THE IMP: If this is what ambergris smells like, hubba hubba.

WET: Sweet but not sugary -- a gently resinous sweetness. This is a light blend, in that the incense and woods don't weigh it down.

DRYING: The teakwood is coming out, and the sandalwood as well. I can't describe this one properly -- sweet, glorious, gentle, resinous. It's getting that deep soft powderiness that Benzoin does on my skin, which reminds me a lot of Doc Buzzard for some reason.

LATER: The blend stays sweet in tone, although the incense comes out to play more and more as time goes on. I wish I could do this blend justice -- it's beautiful.

VERDICT: The Salon blends are really, really something else -- 4/5.

IN THE IMP: Sharp, sweet, almost medicinal resins and herbs.

WET ON SKIN: Holy Batsecks, sweet clove! I LOVE clove, so this is a blessing for me. The sandalwood is present as well. This is a warm, sweet-ish, resinous scent.

DRYING: GypsyRoseRed was spot-on when she said this reminded her of Voodoo Queen. The clove, red sandalwood and maybe the patchouli are all there, but Voodoo Queen has an earthiness that isn't present in El Amor Y La Muerte. The red sandalwood comes out more and more as this dries. I haven't the foggiest what orris smells like, but I'm getting more sexy resins and patchouli as time goes on. The rose is there -- it's the sweetness in this blend, and I can smell it if I look for it -- but it's not a stomp-all-over-everything ROSE scent.

LATER: The sandalwood comes out more and more. The clove softens within ten minutes to a sort of gentle spiciness. This is a very smooth blend, notes don't stick out sharply and they all mingle together beautifully. It's a sweet, dry, incensy blend wherein the incense doesn't EAT EVERYTHING (a rarity on my skin).

VERDICT: I really like this scent. Don't see myself reaching for it very often, as it doesn't have the earthy groundedness that I love about VQ and Doc Buzzard, but I'm definitely glad I have two imps. 5/5

I really wasn't sure I'd like this one, but curiosity got the better of me. I'm glad it did.

Ozone scents are not usually for me. This one is different. Out of the imp I get a sniff of gently sweet -- almost fruity? -- ozone. On my arm, it immediately goes slightly powdery -- almost everything does -- but fortunately I like powder, and this is an ever-so-sweet but /fresh/ powder. After a little bit, this becomes light ozoney cologne and linen.

I can see the comparisons to men's cologne, and I don't usually like scents this unisex. But I think this would be lovely in the warm summer, on those days when I feel like something a little less obviously feminine. I like it, and for now it stays in my collection.

I was gifted this from the lovely djnevermore

I'm not one for fruity scents (at all) but this is actually quite nice. Juicy red fruits, sweet but not oversweet or cloying. People have mentioned amber, and while I don't smell it meself, there's definitely something grounding the pomegranate and keeping it from flying off into the land of fizzy fruity overkill. If you don't like fruity scents, give this one a shot. I will treasure my partial for wear in the summer, and may need to supplement my collection with a full imp.

I like almost none of these notes on their own, so it's a small miracle that the Queen works on me at all. More than that, it actually works well. I actually want more.

At first sniff this reminds me of graveyard dirt... but in a good way (not the BPAL, actual graveyard dirt). Then I realise that's the patchouli I'm smelling -- dark and earthy and tempered by the raspberries and pomegranate. I don't get any obvious gardenia, although I'd probably miss it if it wasn't there. The blood accord thankfully stays in the background -- this is the first time ever BPAL's blood accord hasn't smelled unpleasantly biological on me. This is a dark, close-setting fruit- and blood-soaked dirt scent. For all that, though it's actually quite subtle. I came to it after the fuss over it, and it's gorgeous enough to stand on its own merits.

((hunts for a bit more))